The present invention generally relates to electronic messaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for removal and addition of services associated with simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) extensions associated with electronic communications.
Electronic messages, such as e-mail, sent from a mail client to a mail server are occasionally not accepted by the mail server because of communication incompatibility between the mail client and the mail server. The same is also occasionally true for electronic messages attempted to be delivered from a mail server to a mail client. There may be an error or an incompatibility in the implementation of some SMTP extensions between a mail client and a mail server that prevents the sending and receiving of e-mail. For example, a mail client might attempt to make a STARTTLS connection with a mail server and the mail server might not be properly configured for such a connection or might use the STARTTLS extension in a way that makes the establishment of the TLS connection not possible. The mail client might continue to try to make a STARTTLS connection with the mail server without success. The mail from the mail client to the mail server may back up in the mail client's mail queue. Traditionally, a human administrator of the mail client might notice that the mail queue is backing up, and might determine that the mail server is not properly configured to accept to the a STARTTLS connection with the mail client, or might otherwise not use the request for a STARTTLS connection as expected by the mail client. The human administrator might configure the mail client to not attempt to make a STARTTLS connection with this particular server in the future. More generally, the human administrator will stop a mail client or a mail server from using a failed SMTP extension to that electronic communications may proceed.
Human intervention in an e-mail communication problem is inefficient. New apparatus and methods are needed to eliminate the need for human intervention for addressing communication incompatibility between a mail client and a mail server.